Olympus OM-D E-M1 Review

The E-M1 is the second model in Olympus's OM-D series and extends the range further into semi-pro/enthusiast territory. There are two main distinctions that set the E-M1 apart from its little brother (the E-M5) - a more sophisticated autofocus system and a 'buttons for everything' design approach. As such the two models will coexist, with the E-M1 sitting at the very top of Olympus's lineup.

The biggest technological step forward on the E-M1 is the addition of on-sensor phase detection elements, giving the camera two distinct focus modes. The phase-detection system is used when lenses from the original Four Thirds system, which were designed for use that way, are attached. With native, Micro Four Thirds lenses, the camera will mainly stick with the contrast detection system that has proved so fast and accurate on the E-M5. Only if you use tracking AF will the camera utilize phase-detection information with a Micro Four Thirds lens.

The E-M1 also gains the excellent 2.3M-dot electronic viewfinder panel we first saw as the VF-4 accessory for the PEN E-P5. Not only is the resolution very impressive, but the viewfinder optics give a viewfinder with magnification of up to 1.48x (depending on display mode), which puts it only a fraction behind the 0.76x viewfinder in Canon's 1D X and ahead of Nikon's pro-grade D4 DSLRs.

There's also a more advanced 'TruePic VII' processor in the E-M1 that conducts a variety of lens corrections, when creating JPEGs, leading the company to proclaim the best image quality offered by one of its cameras. Not only can the E-M1 remove the colour fringing caused by lateral chromatic aberration, Olympus says that it also tunes its sharpening to take into account the lens's sharpness, and to combat any softening due to diffraction (particularly at very small apertures).

The biggest difference between the E-M1 and the E-M5, though, is the degree of direct control on offer. We really liked the E-M5's twin-dial control system, but the E-M1 goes beyond that by providing button-and-dial combinations for quickly changing almost every imaginable setting on the camera. It's the kind of approach you don't usually get until the very top of manufacturers' lineups - it means you have to get used to where every function is, but can shoot fluidly once you have.

The E-M1 inherits the '2x2' dial approach Olympus previously used on the E-P5 - flicking a switch on the camera changes the dials from controlling shutter speed, aperture or exposure compensation to changing ISO and white balance. However, all this direct control doesn't come at the expense of the potentially slower but easier to find touch-screen interface - the E-M1 has this too. Overall the camera can be operated pretty much however you fancy.

Built-in Wi-Fi for remote shooting and image transfer to smartphone or tablet

Dust, splash and freeze-proof (to -10 °C)

Gained over the E-M5

True Pic VII processor, with lens corrections

1/8000 sec top shutter speed, 1/320 sec flash sync

Built-in microphone socket (rather than optional accessory adapter)

Flash X-sync socket

Built-in Wi-Fi

Focus 'peaking' display

In-camera HDR blending (two modes), previewed in viewfinder

Four Thirds is dead. Long live Four Thirds.

As well as representing the highest-end Micro Four Thirds camera yet, the E-M1's role is also about offering continued support for users of the original Four Thirds SLR system. Olympus created some very nice Four Thirds lenses, but the company struggled to make enough impact in the SLR market to justify the cost of continuing development for both systems in parallel.

The company claims to have studied what the E-M1 and a hypothetical 'E-7' SLR could offer, and concluded that, while image quality, durability and speed would have been the same, the OM-D design allowed both a substantial size advantage and a much greater viewfinder magnification than would be possible with an optical finder. As such the E-M1 should be considered the successor to the E-5.

We'll look at the performance of the camera with Four Thirds lenses in a little more depth later in this article. But in principle, the on-sensor phase detection autofocus system should be much more effective than contrast detection when it comes to controlling Four Thirds lenses, all of which were primarily designed to be driven by phase detection-based systems.

Comments

Quite frustrating that almost every review on the web doesnt give a clear idea at how AF works with 4/3 lenses. Being a 300 f2.8 4/3 zuiko owner, should I expect from the EM1 an upgrade or a downgrade from E5 in terms of S-AF and C-AF?

Why can’t Olympus decide on a control layout and stick with it? They keep moving the main dials around. The did the same going from the EP2 to EP3. They’ve been designing cameras for so long you’d think they’d have an idea of their preferred ergonomic design by now. Or is it just me?

Look at Canon (just for example, and I’m not a fanboy). The Mode dial, Rear dial, and Front dial on their prosumer line have remained in the same place for 13+ years or so.

M43 has only been around for 4 years or so, and the system is quite different to DSLR. It's taken Olympus and Panasonic a while to find the optimum layout of the dials. They're getting close to nailing it, I think.

Nikon and Canon have been making SLRs for decades, and consequently their camera bodies have been honed almost to perfection.

Canon do the same. It's inevitable that they will refine the layout but frustrating too if you own more than one body and the controls are quite different or - even worse - only a little different. Mind you Canon seemed to have settled on a good layout for their entry level cameras some time ago.

Totally. It's as if people buy cameras to take pictures, and not for the sensors they contain. Sensor sensor sensor. Mmmm-MM! Nothing like a big sensor. I put mine on my pillow as I go to sleep. 4x the light, 4x the light, 4x the light. Golly, I could say that all day long.

It's still a matter of weight/size vs. IQ. My m43 gear is clearly lower in DR/color fidelity than my D800, but it's also way lighter, especially when the equivalent FOV lenses are taken into account.Unless under extreme DR situations or when I need to really lift shadows, or I need really low DOF, my m43 gear is way good enough for most things.

Dude... Not Good ...?? Are you Kidding ? or just another one of those who thinks that it's the camera and not the man behind the camera that matters ?? Does your APSC camera makes you a better photographer ?....You are another one of those so called '' NIBIRU '' cult followers who think they are God !!!

@Danlo - Why? Because not everyone is YOU, that's why. What YOU want isn't the be all and end all. And I think you'll find m43 has a lot of primes to choose from, so YOU could just ignore all the zooms and just buy primes, which might keep YOU happy. But I doubt it.

@sbzine m43 plenty DOF control? But not enough. The bigger de sensor the more space you can create in your photo. Smaller sensor cramp space.

@ntsan, the reason there are no 2kg lenses for m43 is that no one would buy them. In aps-c FF you can shoot with less than 100gr lenses up to many kilo's (those are specialized lenses, and people use tripods for them. They don't care about the weight they care about the picture they want to take.

Am I only to notice bigger dimensions of this device comparing to Olympus OM-D E-M5?130 x 94 x 63 mm against 122 x 89 x 43 mm.I mean it's has a size which is comparable to APS-C DSLR and that's said having 4/3 sensor.What's all about?

Yes, you are the ONLY ONE TO NOTICE! Thank you for sharing your colossally important insight--the E-M1 is NEARER IN SIZE to an APSC DSLR than the E-M5! This changes everything. The ramifications are extreme. I suggest we ignore its very existence. Oh, I'm not sure I can take it!

It's about too many users complaining that E-M5 was too small and the buttons were too close together. If E-M1 is going to be used with the larger lenses, such as the f/2.8 zooms, 75 f/1.8, etc., then the larger size makes very good practical sense.

Who understood me didn't answer me!Main plus for 4/3 system was smaller whole size of the system!That justified the smaller sensor with all following negative consequences.Now sizes of two system almost the same(for APS-C DSLR).So what's reason to buy such expensive device? It doesn't look as a bargain.

Now add in the lenses and you cannot compare the size of the two systems. And we haven't even talked about the weight!

Ever since getting my GX1 with a couple of the better recommended primes I haven't touched my dSLR kit. Whenever I get the urge I just lift the dSLR bag and say 'not today'. Well, that's not true. I shot a friends wedding a couple months ago with both my dSLR and m43 kits and you know what? I enjoyed shooting the m43 kit MUCH more and after showing the pictures my friend gushed more over the pictures taken with the m43 kit.

"The lack of a native ISO 100 could be limiting for using the camera in a studio setting."

I thought it had a low setting that is iso 100? I need it for studio strobes and syncho sun. Is it still iso 200? I would have to wait again for m4/3s next generation. That would be a bummer since I have been waiting since the first m 4/3s

i would. focus peaking for me is the best thing. i plan to buy voigtländer lenses and peaking would be awesome to use it with.

plus, i owned a nikon 1 v1 and was very happy with C-AF. just shot the buffer full with RAW images and the camera did refocus on its own. very reliable.

some minor things:and the new viewfinder.and the grip (if you like that)and the mode lockand the button config options and layout and numberand the sturdier built (dials on E-M5 seemed fragile)and the new truepic VII engine

biggest downside: it just looks... not appealing compared to E-M5. what beauty that is...

I'm tired and going to bed. No mention of a flash, MMF-3 adapter rebates. As it stands it only supports 1 SD card. Thats BS and Uncle OLY knows it. I will be back in the am. Please find out some good stuff for us sports shooters.

"Ultimately, despite its authentically semi-pro appearance, the E-M1 is still a pretty small camera, if compared to DSLRs. The disadvantage the previous top-end E-series cameras had was that they ended up being as big as any other DSLR (the E-3 and E-5 were essentially the same size as a full-frame DSLR, at which point it became hard not to measure it against those cameras). The E-M1 may be large for a Micro Four Thirds camera, but it's not big in the grand scheme of things."

PWD, the reason why I prefer tilt over side-hinged swivel has nothing to do with durability and everything to do with usability. The side hinge is just very inconvenient when using the camera at waist level or when shooting macros.

Still owning the E-1, E-3, OM-D and now using this model, I'd say that the only improvements I'd like, are the 2 buttons made more pronounced from the body, for when using gloves. I like the position of the on/off switch on the E-1; initially, I thought it was better but now I've used it a fair bit, the switch being 'tucked away' has distinct advantages as it's pretty difficult to accidentally switch the power on when stashed in a bag where it might get knocked on/off. I've got some of the 4/3rds lenses, they work a lot faster and positively than on the OM-D, and with the 7-14mm fitted, it's more balanced than on the OM-D. That superwide, is optically one hell of a lens, even though it first came out in 2006-7, which is probably a sore point with many APS-C camera owners, as something this wide, has only been available in the APS-C format, in the past year or so. A compromise it may well be, but overall, I feel the m4/3rds format is probably in the SLR format, the best that I've seen.

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